I was driving down Main St and finally stopped at this great building.
Today
1920s Picture
The Madrid started as a silent movie house until the 1930s.
Howard Hughes bought it and ran it as a full movie house for the next decade.
In 1944, the theatre closed and sat idle until the 50’s, when it was purchased, gutted, and resuscitated as a storage warehouse.
In 1983 when Victor Patti had the vision of restoring this architectural artwork to its original grandeur and purchased it with that intention. Although investor funds weren’t raised until 1995, and it took five years to negotiate and jump through logistical hoops, by the beginning of 2000, the hard work was well underway. In 2001, 75 years after its grand opening, the Madrid Theatre reopened.
I tried to look in the windows
Today it is an event venue. It can be rented for weddings, concerts, fund raising. That's what they suggest on the web site. I don't know if you could read the sign but they showed a movie there about a week ago. It looks like the original stain glass windows have survived.
Sanderson's Lunch was a favorite late night hangout for many of Kansas City's best musicians.
Sanderson's Lunch was a diner next door to the Madrid. It was open 24/7. It was torn down in 2000 for a Madrid parking lot.
In the 1930's American aviator, film producer, director and billionaire owner of RKO Pictures bought many theaters across the United States in Warwick and Madrid.
And the historic theaters have begun. I get 2 different adventure emails and both have visited the historic theaters. I have been putting doing it so far but I can delete some emails if I just do it. I hope we have fun doing it.
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